ATV Lifeguard Wins Safety Award

Anyone familiar with European beaches will be familiar by now with the sight of lifeguards patrolling the sands on ATVs – the vehicles are ideal for covering long stretches of coast fast, when speed is everything. But there’s a new type of ATV Lifeguard that’s making waves by saving lives on farmland, and according to Farmer’s Weekly it could soon be on its way to the UK, the first roll-safety technology to reach our shores.

The Lifeguard is a device, manufactured by Ag-TECH industries, that is reckoned to dramatically cut the risks of injury or fatality when an ATV crashes. Essentially it’s a hoop of thick plastic bricks, segmented and held together with nylon, which can be attached to the back of any bike with a metal carrier. When a quad tips over, the Lifeguard can cut the pressure on the rider by up to 90%, say the manufacturers, thus dramatically cutting the risk of deaths and injuries from crushing.

ATV injuries are a real problem in agricultural communities, where workers are often operating in isolated conditions and terrain can be notoriously difficult, with steep slopes and slippery surfaces commonplace. A typical ATV might weigh up to 250kgs, so anything that reduces the force of that is worth applying. The Lifeguard spreads the weight across the rider’s body, giving them the time and space needed to wriggle to safety. The segmented plastic is also handy in keeping the hoop free of tree branches or other obstructions.

In recent months the Lifeguard has been generating some extremely popular feedback from Australia and New Zealand, and it has just won a safety award at an agricultural show in Tasmania. It will be hitting UK dealers soon, and is likely to be priced at £800 which no doubt many quad-users will consider a very reasonable price given the amount of protection it affords.